Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety?
Introduction Personality traits like neuroticism and trait-anxiety, as well as the predisposition to a greater sensitivity to pain, are risk factors for dental anxiety. Although perfectionism has been associated with both anxiety and pain, particularly when mediated by repetitive negative thinking...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2021-04-01
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| Series: | European Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933821004910/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797617328423174144 |
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| author | A.T. Pereira C. Cabaços A. Araujo M.J. Soares A. Macedo |
| author_facet | A.T. Pereira C. Cabaços A. Araujo M.J. Soares A. Macedo |
| author_sort | A.T. Pereira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Introduction
Personality traits like neuroticism and trait-anxiety, as well as the predisposition to a greater sensitivity to pain, are risk factors for dental anxiety. Although perfectionism has been associated with both anxiety and pain, particularly when mediated by repetitive negative thinking/RNT (Macedo et al. 2015; Albuquerque et al. 2013), its role in dental anxiety has not yet been studied.
Objectives
To analyze the role of perfectionism and RNT in dental anxiety.
Methods
A community sample of 552 adults (68.2% women; mean age=35.15±15.79 years) completed the Portuguese versions of:Hewit and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale–13, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Sensitivity to Pain Traumatization/SPT Scale, Fear of Dental Pain/FDP Questionnaire, Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire and Dental Fear Survey/DFS.
Results
Trait-anxiety (r=.225), socially prescribed perfectionism/SPP (r=.177), SPT (r=.286), FDP (r=.509) and RNT (r=.274) were significantly (p<.01) correlated with dental anxiety (DFS total score). Serial mediation analysis using the PROCESS-macro 3.5 for SPSS (Hayes, 2020; Model 6) showed that even controlling for trait-anxiety and gender (as SPT, FDP and RNT mean scores were significantly higher in women, p<.01) SPP plays a significant indirect effect through SDT, FDP and RNT on dental anxiety, which are (isolated or sequentially) full mediators of this relationship (Total effect: .553, p<.001).
Conclusions
This study shows for the first time that negative perfectionism is a predictor of dental anxiety; its influence operates through the increase in levels of sensitivity to pain, DPA and RNT. We suggest that when intervening in this health problem it is important to evaluate perfectionism and try to mitigate its negative impact, namely diminishing RNT and the focus on pain and fear.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:54:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-258fdeada41044d4b2c2d4237ba07491 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0924-9338 1778-3585 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:54:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-258fdeada41044d4b2c2d4237ba074912023-11-17T05:06:00ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Psychiatry0924-93381778-35852021-04-0164S186S18610.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.491Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety?A.T. Pereira0C. Cabaços1A. Araujo2M.J. Soares3A. Macedo4Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, PortugalInstitute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, PortugalInstitute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalInstitute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, PortugalInstitute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Introduction Personality traits like neuroticism and trait-anxiety, as well as the predisposition to a greater sensitivity to pain, are risk factors for dental anxiety. Although perfectionism has been associated with both anxiety and pain, particularly when mediated by repetitive negative thinking/RNT (Macedo et al. 2015; Albuquerque et al. 2013), its role in dental anxiety has not yet been studied. Objectives To analyze the role of perfectionism and RNT in dental anxiety. Methods A community sample of 552 adults (68.2% women; mean age=35.15±15.79 years) completed the Portuguese versions of:Hewit and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale–13, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Sensitivity to Pain Traumatization/SPT Scale, Fear of Dental Pain/FDP Questionnaire, Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire and Dental Fear Survey/DFS. Results Trait-anxiety (r=.225), socially prescribed perfectionism/SPP (r=.177), SPT (r=.286), FDP (r=.509) and RNT (r=.274) were significantly (p<.01) correlated with dental anxiety (DFS total score). Serial mediation analysis using the PROCESS-macro 3.5 for SPSS (Hayes, 2020; Model 6) showed that even controlling for trait-anxiety and gender (as SPT, FDP and RNT mean scores were significantly higher in women, p<.01) SPP plays a significant indirect effect through SDT, FDP and RNT on dental anxiety, which are (isolated or sequentially) full mediators of this relationship (Total effect: .553, p<.001). Conclusions This study shows for the first time that negative perfectionism is a predictor of dental anxiety; its influence operates through the increase in levels of sensitivity to pain, DPA and RNT. We suggest that when intervening in this health problem it is important to evaluate perfectionism and try to mitigate its negative impact, namely diminishing RNT and the focus on pain and fear. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933821004910/type/journal_articleDental AnxietyPerfectionism |
| spellingShingle | A.T. Pereira C. Cabaços A. Araujo M.J. Soares A. Macedo Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? European Psychiatry Dental Anxiety Perfectionism |
| title | Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? |
| title_full | Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? |
| title_fullStr | Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? |
| title_short | Is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety? |
| title_sort | is perfectionism associated to dental anxiety |
| topic | Dental Anxiety Perfectionism |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933821004910/type/journal_article |
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